DENVER POST MUST-READS– Despite setback, proponents of arming school staff press caseRead– Spike in stimulant use packs ERs with studentsRead– Crash, injuries lead to questions about X Games safetyRead

MUST-READS FROM ELSEWHEREHow far is too far? The snowmobile accident that has left Winter X Games competitor Caleb Moore near death in a Colorado hospital renews questions about the lines of risk that sport should cross. LA Times

Scathing audit The Colorado Energy Office was so sloppy with the way it kept track of millions of dollars in stimulus money that it can’t prove the spending did any good, according to a harsh audit of the office released Tuesday. Durango Herald

Wild horse inquiry A bipartisan pair of lawmakers is urging Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to disclose whether as many as 1,700 federally protected wild horses now unaccounted for were sold to a middleman who illegally transported them to Mexico for slaughter. National Journal

Incline illegal no more The Manitou Springs City Council on Tuesday night voted unanimously to allow legal access to the Manitour incline, which runs 2,000 feet up a mountain along a former tourist train route on the west side of Manitou Springs. Thousands of hikers and fitness buffs a month have been climbing it — illegally — for years. The Gazette

No. 4 on charters The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools on Tuesday ranked Colorado fourth – up from seventh last year – in the nation in terms of the quality and robustness of its charter school laws. EdNews

Ski areas look to summer The supervisor of the sprawling White River National Forest expects numerous ski resorts eventually to submit proposals to expand summer activities once they see how the review of Vail’s extensive plan goes. Aspen Times

TODAY’S POT NEWSThe pot hunter What happens if someone from outside Colorado comes to Colorado to get high. How hard could it be? The Daily Beast

MUST-READS FROM ELSEWHERETeachers take classes Hundreds of school teachers and employees spent their Monday night at a Rocky Mountain Gun Owners concealed carry class especially for them. “My safety, the Aurora shooting, just all the tragedies that have been happening; I don’t want to be a victim,” said one school employee. Fox 31

CU smoking ban University of Colorado administrators plan to adopt a campus-wide smoking ban this week that, once enacted, will be enforced through education and self-policing, rather than tickets. Colorado Daily

Frack fight in Loveland The first public pass at a new set of regulations governing oil and natural gas drilling in Loveland brought city planning commissioners face to face with membership of a new group opposing the industry.
A contentious hearing on the proposed city rules, designed to prevent challenges from an overriding set of state regulations, resulted late Monday in a two-month extension of a moratorium on oil and gas permitting. Reporter-Herald

TODAY’S POT SHOTSuperior opts out of pot biz Superior on Monday became the first community in Boulder County to begin putting in place a permanent ban on all marijuana retail shops, clubs or cultivation facilities. Daily Camera

MUST-READS FROM ELSEWHEREImmigration ‘Gang of 8’ Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet is among a bipartisan group of eight senators that have reached an agreement on a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Fox 31

Ramsey indictment Multiple sources, including members of the grand jury, confirmed to the Daily Camera that a grand jury voted to indict both John and Patsy Ramsey on charges of child abuse resultinng in the death of their daughter, JonBenet, but then-District Attorney Alex Hunter refused to sign the indictment and prosecute the case. Daily Camera

Gessler won’t challenge Hick Popular Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is up for reelection in 2014, and he’s done little wrong so far, even in the eyes of his political adversaries. In fact, the biggest obstacle standing between Hickenlooper and a second term might be the governor’s fellow Democrats. That, at least, is what Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler said Thursday in an interview at the Hotline’s offices in Washington, D.C. Gessler has been mooted as a potential GOP gubernatorial candidate in 2014… . He said he is planning to run for reelection to his current post. National Journal

Who will challenge Udall? Republicans insist Sen. Mark Udall is beatable in 2014. Colorado, after all, increasingly has been at the center of national politics for more than a decade. But the party has one big problem: It has no candidate. Roll Call

TODAY’S POT NEWSWeed’s Western Wall Street Colorado has become a nucleus of the rapidly evolving marijuana industry, offering a glimpse at what life might be like if weed is legalized nationwide, with companies, entrepreneurs and investors maneuvering for a piece of the expected boom. LA Times

Home rule An ordinance passed in Greenwood Village prohibits possession of marijuana on city property, including public streets and sidewalks. The upshot is that residents of the town may grow up to six plants in their homes, as allowed by Amendment 64, but may not take any of that marijuana anywhere else. Reason

“They don’t get to decide . The Supreme Court gets to decide the parameters of Second Amendment rights.”

— Republican Attorney General John Suthers on elected officials who say they won’t enforce gun control laws they deem unconstitutional

MUST-READS FROM ELSEWHEREGarfield sheriff weighs in on new gun laws Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario says he opposes any legislative attempts at enacting new gun control laws, which he believes would infringe on the constitutional right of citizens to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment. However, he stops short of saying he would not enforce any new laws that come out of the state Legislature or from the federal government, as some Front Range sheriffs and other law enforcement officials across the country have suggested. Read

Armed shopper A Wellington teenager carrying a rifle over his shoulder while shopping at a Wal-mart in Fort Collins sparked serious concern Tuesday. The Coloradoan

Lost gun A man who told police he lost his .380 semiautomatic pistol while riding his motorized scooter through a north Longmont neighborhood on Jan. 16 told police he found the gun between some couch cushions in his home on Wednesday. Times-Call

Found gun Police in Fountain are considering charges against one or both parents of a 3-year-old boy after he was shot in the foot with a semi-automatic handgun. KKTV Read more…

MUST-READS FROM ELSEWHERESupport for stricter gun laws More than half of Coloradans, including 60 percent of unaffiliated voters, support stricter gun laws across the board. The survey from Project New America and pollster Chris Keating, based on 905 live telephone interviews conducted over the last few days, finds that 55 percent of Colorado voters support stricter gun laws, while 40 percent oppose them. Fox 31

Bye-bye to Boulder’s elkgate cops The two Boulder police officers arrested on suspicion of conspiring to shoot and kill a trophy elk in the Mapleton Hill area Jan. 1 resigned Tuesday, police officials announced. Daily Camera

A step toward fracking ban Wedged between overwhelming public outcry in favor of a vote that could prohibit hydraulic fracturing in Fort Collins and the near certainty that its passage would invite a lawsuit, a divided city council on Tuesday took the first step toward a ballot question about a ban. Coloradoan

Eye in the sky Last week, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office perched a mobile camera unit at the popular panhandling hangout just east of Fort Collins’ city limits. It’s intended to deter the practice and is one of the early steps to enforce new county panhandling restrictions that took effect this month. Coloradoan

Hopping mad Broadcaster CBS has amended its complaint against Colorado’s Dish Network, claiming the company fraudulently concealed information about its commercial-skipping feature called AutoHop, Deadline.com reports. The entertainment news website reports CBS maintains in the lawsuit it wouldn’t have signed an agreement in January 2012 allowing Dish to carry its programming if it had known AutoHop was in the works. Dish introduced the ad-skipping feature on its DVRs in May. DBJ

TODAY’S POT NEWSNo guidance for guv Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson met with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday, but came away no further enlightened about how the federal government will respond to last fall’s votes in Washington and Colorado that set up legal markets for marijuana. Associated Press

MMJ backers lose in court An appeals court rejected the bid by medical marijuana backers to ease federal controls of the drug, ruling that the government properly kept the substance in its most dangerous category. Bloomberg

Reefer road The director of Iowa’s Department of Public Safety Narcotics Division says Iowa law enforcement officers are seizing increasing amounts of marijuana originating from Colorado. Steve DeJoode says even before Colorado relaxed its marijuana laws late last year, the amount of marijuana seized in Iowa tripled over a three year period. Radio Iowa

MUST-READS FROM ELSEWHEREWater from gas drilling ‘a godsend’ The forests in the hills west of Trinidad are filled with green pipes, industrial structures and constant signs that warn outsiders against both trespassing and smoking. This is natural gas country. It’s also cattle country, fish country, elk country and home to rugged individualists who see the water produced by coal-bed methane operations as a godsend rather than a threat. The Chieftain

A closer look Garfield County commissioners want more analysis of potential socio-economic impacts related to a draft U.S. Bureau of Land Management decision that will guide future oil and gas development on BLM lands in the far northwest part of the county. Glenwood P-IRead more…

MUST-READS FROM ELSEWHEREFrack ban considered, take 1 During its work session on Tuesday, Fort Collins City Council will mull whether to place a referred measure on the municipal ballot in April to let voters decide whether to impose a ban on hydraulic fracturing in the city. Coloradoan

Frack ban considered, take 2 Boulder needs to have regulations in place — or if not, at least a moratorium — to prevent fracking within city limits and on city open space, Councilwoman Suzanne Jones said. Jones raised the issue at the City Council’s annual retreat after council members received a letter from a group of environmental activists and Boulder residents asking the city to take a stand against fracking. Daily CameraRead more…

MUST-READS FROM ELSEWHERESheriff or supreme court justice? Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith announced Wednesday that he will not “enforce unconstitutional federal laws” in a social media message criticizing universal background checks on gun sales. He denies he would selectively enforce the law, but would mount a court challenge to any law that he considers an infringement on citizens’ constitutional rights. However, Smith’s original Facebook post did not reference lawsuits as a remedy. The Coloradoan

Sheriff or supreme court justice, take 2? Weld County Sheriff John Cooke, along with some other elected officials across the country, is voicing vehement opposition to President Barack Obama’s sweeping plan to address gun violence, calling the proposal “out of line” and saying he refuses to enforce any part of it. Greeley Tribune

Coffman’s stance? Rep. Mike Coffman “hasn’t said a peep” on gun control proposals circulating in Washington. “That may be due to the fact that Coffman doesn’t have an official press secretary . … It may also be due to the fact that Coffman, who narrowly won reelection in November after seeing his heretofore safe GOP seat re-drawn into a left-leaning toss-up, is in a tough spot on the issue of gun control.” Fox31Read more…

“There are many that feel that this is a way for him to get out of the obligation he made publicly prior to the game. I just think it’s interesting that there was so much trash talking before the game. Now there are a lot of excuses.”
— Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, in The Sun

MUST-READS FROM ELSEWHERESeeking Salazar Foes of natural-gas drilling in Thompson Divide would like to see Interior Secretary Ken Salazar take the same action when he leaves office in March that he took when he started the job four years ago. Salazar, a former U.S. senator from Colorado and native of the San Luis Valley, canceled oil and gas leases on 77 parcels of federal land in Utah in February 2009. He said drilling posed too much of a threat to spectacular landscapes in areas such as Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. Glenwood P-I

Salazar’s “secret shame” Conservatives have their own reasons for disliking Salazar’s tenure at Interior. To them, he didn’t move quickly enough to open up public lands to oil exploration. To them, our high gas prices are his fault and not the fault of the oil companies who set prices. To me, Salazar’s failures have been most pronounced in his oversight of the Bureau of Land Management as it has overseen the fate of the nation’s wild horses. They are supposed to be protected and managed under the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, a 1971 federal law which gave to the Interior Department vast discretion to do right by the horses. National Journal

Chicken killing Before filing for bankruptcy, Grant Family Farms owner Andy Grant said he was forced to kill 12,000 chickens that he could not afford to feed. Localization Partners — an organization that loaned the large Northern Colorado organic farm $1.5 million in 2012 and later assumed control of its finances — withheld funds from egg sales for feed, Grant said. He said he did the most humane thing possible, reducing the flock before its members starved. The Coloradoan

Study links drilling, air pollution Emissions from oil and natural gas operations account for more than half of the pollutants — such as propane and butane — that contribute to ozone formation in Erie, according to a new scientific study published this week. Daily Camera

High and dry Planners and engineers in the Colorado River Basin say a parched future could be in store for the region during the next 50 years as they prepare for a seven-state meeting in Las Vegas next week. Senior Colorado River District water resources engineer David Kanzer said Tuesday communities in the basin are living beyond their means. He says it is worse for river communities downstream. Durango HeraldRead more…

MUST-READS FROM ELSEWHEREFamily bed, bad A sudden rise in the number of infants accidentally suffocated to death in bed is alarming public health officials in Northern Colorado. Four infants suffocated in Weld County in 2012, and three suffocated in Larimer County. The Coloradoan

Lie-strong fallout Durango’s cycling community and its local legends said Lance Armstrong’s doping confession doesn’t just add one more smudge to the already mud-splattered sport, but it also puts power behind a much-needed pressure-washing that could put the shine back in the sport. Durango’s who’s who in the sport are calling for lifetime bans and even jail time for cheaters from Armstrong to Fort Lewis College alumnus Tom Danielson. Durango HeraldRead more…

Vincent Carroll is The Denver Post's editorial page editor. He has been writing commentary on politics and public policy in Colorado since 1982 and was originally with the Rocky Mountain News, where he was also editor of the editorial pages until that newspaper gave up the ghost in 2009.

Guidelines: The Post welcomes letters up to 150 words on topics of general interest. Letters must include full name, home address, day and evening phone numbers, and may be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.

To reach the Denver Post editorial page by phone: 303-954-1331

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